Mighty Fine
by ZiOfShadows
Summary: A OneShot I was dared to write. "Romance" between fem/Shep and Engineer Donnelly. Hope people enjoy. Maybe now I can back to my Joker story...


**Mighty Fine**

**Alert**: Possible _slight_ spoilers, but should be no problem for anyone who's finished the game.

**Title**: Mighty Fine (in reference to how he says "Aye, but in the right hands, it can taste like mighty fine ass.")

**Rating**: M, I suppose O_o

**Author**: ZiOfShadows

**Why**: Why this monstrosity was created... well... I was dared O_o And I agreed because there is a distinct lack of Engineer Donnelly love.

**Characters**: Engineer Kenneth Donnelly and Commander Shepard mostly, references to Grunt, Mordin, Tali, Engineer Gabby (I forget her full name) Doctor Chakwas, Joker... and maybe others, I forget. I've wiped this from my brain.

**Warning**: Steal and ye shall be eaten by rats!

**Other**: The wonderful world of Mass Effect and all contained within are (c) to BioWare and yeah, you know. Oh, and it's best if you imagine a scottish accent saying all his lines, cause I didn't know HOW to make his accent come across... I hang my head in shame. As always, blame my muse, not me x]

**Other number 2**: In case people haven't guessed, I take all dares... the Wrex one was just the beginning _ Someday I'll get around to finishing my Joker fanfic *sniff* Otherwise, this is a oneshot.

* * *

Engineer Kenneth Donnelly hit a few buttons on the console and sighed as he looked around the empty engineering deck. It was lonely down there now that the Collector Base had been dealt with. The curvy Quarian, Tali, spent most of her time up on the crew deck talking about the 'old days' and what would happen next with the Turian and the Commander. Plus Gabby had somehow managed to catch the flu and was sentanced to a few days of good rest.

_Damn it!_ He sighed to himself and turned so his back would face the console, mainly so he'd have something to lean against. He crossed his arms against his chest and stared at the ground. _We manage to defeat the Collectors in their own base, all of us get free, and she gets taken down by the bloody flu!_ He shook his head in annoyance, and somewhat in amusement to.

His amusement was short lived as he took notice of the small wound on his arm that he'd gained while running from the Collector's Base a mere week ago. A random Collector had fired and the bullet had grazed his arm when he'd stretched out to push Gabby aside - no way would he let his best friend get shot! Chakwas had fixed him up, but warned him he'd probably get an infection, and as it turned out, that's what was happening indeed.

His face pulled into an expression of disgust as he lifted the offending arm and studied the cut - only two inches across the upper side of his arm, he'd barely felt it when it had happened, and he'd later joked that the hair burning off his arm had hurt more than the actual cut. Now it seemed he would eating his words, as a great deal of the skin surrounding the cut was looking quite... off colour.

He regretted not taking Gabby's advice and bandaging it when he had the chance. With a sigh of annoyance he turned and logged himself out of EDI's systems, which wasn't uncommon - he had to log off whenever he took a lunch break or decided to try and get some sleep just to make sure no one used his name to fiddle with any codes. Shaking his head, he turned on his heel and headed through the sliding doors towards the elevator.

He barely remembered stepping into the elevator, or pushing the button to take him to the crew deck, but soon enough the doors opened and out he stepped. He rounded the corner and paused in surprise.

Tali, the Quarian he liked to watch work, was passed out at one of the tables, helmeted head on her hands, breathing deeply through her suit.

_Strange._ He thought to himself, tilting his head to look around. He caught sight of Grunt, the Krogan who usually hid down near his tank on the engineering deck, stuffing dishes and plates into what appeared to be the dishwasher. He looked less than amused as a plate shattered in his hand, and slammed his head into the cold steel of the kitchen bench. _Good thing that stuff is steel..._ Donnelly couldn't help but smirk a little at the thought of Grunt being chased around by the cook for damaging his cooking space.

"Ugh, no!" A feminine voice he recognised suddenly caught his attention and he turned to see what was going on. Through the glass of the medical bay he could see Commander Shepard smaking a terminal with the palm of her hand, teeth gritted, pony tail messed, brows furrowed together in distress.

Shaking his head at what appeared to be a dream sequence, he wandered over to the med bay and stepped through the sliding doors. "Commander?" He said in his usual scottish taint.

"Just wait a minute, will you?!" The Commander all but screeched in annoyance, and now that he was closer he could tell she was extreamly tired. He hadn't seen her since they'd taken the Collector Base out a week ago - heck, he'd barely seen anyone, Joker had had him running diagnostics on the couplings and checking all power circuits practically 24/7, just _"to make sure the Collector's hadn't harmed his baby"_ as he liked to put it.

Shaking his head at the though, Donnelly took a step closer and watched as the screen beeped and banned the Commander from entering a certain file.

"Ugh! You damn, stupid thing!" The Commander all but slapped herself as her head fell into her hands in defeat.

"Uh... is this a bad time, Commander? Only, I'm looking for Doctor Chakwas--"

"You and every other person on board!" The Commander clearly spoke through gritted teeth, and he winced.

"Umm..." Donnelly rubbed the back of his neck with his good arm and quirked an eyebrow. "Anything I can help with Commander?" She usually seemed so calm, so he figured something was wrong.

He heard her sigh, and watched as she lifted her face from her hands and straightened her posture. "I'm sorry." She stated calmly, now composed. "I haven't slept for a while." For the first time since entering, she looked at him. "Oh, Donnelly, sorry. Hope I haven't offended you or anything, it's just everyones got the flu! Mordin's busy treating Garrus because Garrus went and caught some sort of Turian virus - how I'll never know - and Chakwas has been laid out with the flu herself, so it's leaving a distinct lack in people with medical aptitude." She frowned. "So I'm doing my best to help, but I'll tell you, there's a real difference from shooting people to handing out chicken soup." She attempted a joke, her lips quirking just a little at the side.

Despite her tired eyes and somewhat messy hair, that smile made something in Donnelly twitch in interest. He studied her face for a moment, before snapping to his senses and realizing he was staring. "Oh." He managed, then covered it with. "Oh, I guess that's why Tali's passed out then..." He glanced through the window at the Quarian.

"No. Thankfully she's not sick. She's just exhausted from helping people. And I've got Grunt of all aliens doing dishes..." The Commander's eyes shifted to look out the window and the look of pain on her face told him that Grunt was obviously not doing such a good job. "I'm just... I'm so tired." She sighed and rubbed a shoulder carefully. "But, I guess you came up here for something important, not to listen to me rant." She gave that same small, sad smile.

"Oh... well, yeah, Commander. But look, it's not important. I can see you're busy." He raised a hand as if to say _forget about it_ and took a step as if to leave, but the Commander cut him off.

"Oh, trust me, I'm busy, but if it stops me from killing this damn terminel... well, I'll take it." She smiled softly again.

He felt butterflies rise up in his stomach as he looked at her, a smile slowly creeping across his face. "Well alright then. It's just this; the Doctor cleaned it up for me and warned me it'd get infected. Didn't play it safe though, well, I wouldn't, since Gabby wasn't around to bug me into takin' care of meself." He held his arm up, smirking as he did so.

The Commander reached for his arm to get a better look, and he braced himself for pain, expecting her grip to be like iron. He was surprised, in fact a little stunned, at how smooth her skin felt and how light her touch was as she traced the outside of the wound and pulled the skin a little to better see it. She'd been a soldier long enough to know how an infected wound looked - and they usually looked just like the one on Donnelly's arm.

"Well, it's infected." She nodded slightly. "I can clean it up for you, and put a gauge over it to keep any dirt out." She looked up at him, eye to eye, while still holding his arm.

He swallowed as he stared back into her intense blue eyes, not willing himself to blink. All he could manage to mutter was "Sure, Commander."

The Commander's eyes got bright, and he watched as her tiredness was shaken off. He guessed it was because she was getting a break from endless flu patients, and he didn't protest when she turned and all but pulled him along with her to a medical bed. Thankfully they were all empty, since the crew were dealing with their flu's while in their sleeping pods.

He glanced sidelong at her as she patted the bed, and he hoisted himself up to sit on it while watching her gather some supplies. Mere moments later she was standing at his side, stretching his arm out along the bed so she could reach the wound. "This will sting a bit." She warned.

"'At's alright, I'm a big boy, Commander. I can handle pain." Donnelly smirked, feeling at ease like always with his Commander. Funny, he'd thought of her as _his_ Commander even back when he'd been defending her... before he'd joined Cerberus. _His_. The word had a nice ring to it, well, in certain contexts anyway.

"Well, I hope that's true." The Commander chuckled back at him. "Cause I'm a soldier, and medical studies weren't exactly requirements of my job."

"Well I've been poked, prodded and had insults hurled at me all my life by Gabby. Doubt you could do much worse, Commander." Donnelly smirked and watched as she picked up a swab to clean out his wound. She had been right. It _did_ sting, but not as much as he'd anticipated, and he felt his muscles untense a little.

He watched her work, not really paying attention to her cleaning, but more to her face and the numerous expressions that were shown there. She was focused on helping him, eyes locked onto his wound, delicate, long-fingered hands carefully swabbing away the bad bits and treating the infection. He tried hard not to blink so he wouldn't miss anything; from the soft frown on her lips as a bit of grit avoided her, to the bright spark in her eyes when she seemed to remember she was helping her crew, to the flash of pain across her face as she thought she'd hurt him. Suddenly he found himself looking eye to eye with her again - obviously she'd thought she'd hurt him, and had looked to see. She was talking, he could see her lips moving, and yet the words evaded him...

_Damn, but she's beautiful. I rarely see her without all that armor - she's so curvy and... feminine. How does she do it? How does she manage to kick ass on the battlefield and still stay human?_

He didn't realize he was staring and ignoring her until she waved a hand in front of his face to get his attention.

"Donnelly?! Are you okay?" Her voice sounded worried. "Kenneth?" She tried in vain.

Kenneth shook his head to rid the sudden images flooding his mind, the same images he had in his dreams almost every night, ever since Gabby had caught him eyeing the Commander's rear end while she was distracted talking to Tali. Gabby had hit it on the head when she'd said "I think you're getting a crush on the Commander, Kenneth." God he had gotten a crush on the Commander! How? Why? When?! His mind searched for an explanation but found nothing.

_Oh, it was a very bad idea to come up here..._ He frowned to himself. _But I didn't know she was going to be here, so isn't really my fault. God, why can't she just stop looking so concerned and worried and damn beautiful?!_ He silently cursed himself and shook his head. "I'm fine, Commander. Sorry, I was just... day dreamin', I guess." He looked away from her.

"Are you sure?" She countered, frowning. "I mean, you looked really out of it for a second there. Did I hurt you by accident?" There she was, laying the blame on herself again, like she always did when someone got hurt or things went wrong; it'd been the same when the Turian had half his face blasted off, when Okeer strangely died, when the Collector's had taken the crew... It was never her fault though, and it pissed him off when she took the blame anyway.

"No, Commander! I'm okay. Like I said, I was just... not paying attention. Didn't mean to ignore you, but--" He frowned. _I'm making it worse, she's gonna say something totally profound and humane and it'll stun me into silence and I'll never get to say what I'm thinking._ "God, you've got beautiful eyes."

_Oh, shit._ His mind cursed him. Why had he said that? Being open and supportive was one thing, ignoring regulations and being informal was another thing, but openly hitting on his Commanding officer? _Hells._

The Commander looked surprised, to say the least. "Excuse me?" She shook her head lightly, eyes not leaving his own. "I- I- did my translator just glitch or something? Did we hit a black hole?" She looked around then, but kept hold of his arm.

"I said you've got beautiful eyes." Kenneth shrugged. _Digging the whole deeper, aren't you boy?_ He didn't feel so bad about it now though. At least she hadn't slapped him or screamed at him.

"I..." The Commander looked back at him and frowned a little, studying him. He could tell she was shocked; he was pretty surprised at that, then he remembered that she was a supposedly dead ex-spectre who killed any bad guy who crossed her path... _Guess that doesn't exactly get her a lot of marriage proposals_. "Thank you." She managed, finally, and it shook him from his thoughts.

"Well... you're welcome..." Was all he could think of in reply, and he rubbed the back of his neck with his good hand. "It's only the truth, Shepard." It felt strange to call her by name instead of rank, but it felt nice to.

And the smile he got for it made his heart leap.

She didn't reply. Instead she looked back at his wound and finished cleaning it. He made sure not to go off into a daydream this time. While she was putting a gauge over the cut, he decided to see how far he could push his luck.

"So, Commander... Gabby and I heard some rumors down in Engineering about you and a crew member. Are the rumors true?" He tilted his head.

"Well, that depends on what crew member we're talking about, and what sort of rumors they were." Shepard countered, not looking up.

_Hells._ He'd wanted to keep it from getting to names, since, well, he'd heard she was... quite friendly... in a sense. He decided to go with honesty. "Well, to be honest Commander, the rumors go past _one_ crew member." He shrugged and managed not to move the arm she was working on at the same time.

The Commander looked up at him now. "Which crew members?" She looked upset. At least a little.

_Oh, why did I bring it up?_ He silently cursed himself. "Well, you know..." He shifted a little on the bed. "Just rumors saying the Turian had some intimitate stuff to say to you, and then others that Jacob was trying his luck and even a few about that assassin guy... Definately the weirdest one had to be about Grunt though." He glanced out the window at the Krogan who had abandoned doing dishes and was now prodding the sleeping Quarian, obviously wanting to trade places with her.

The Commander's emotion changed instantly. She smiled. "Oh! Rumors like that I don't mind."

He quirked an eyebrow. "So, uh, is there anything to those rumors then?" He asked, trying to be casual.

"Nope." The Commander smiled and looked back to the gauge, now sticking it down. "Garrus and I are just friends - close friends, but friends all the same. Jacob isn't really my type, and I told him so. And for Thane, well, we just talk a bit - I don't think there's anything to it." She smirked and added. "And I won't even dignify the Grunt rumors. I mean, he's a Krogan teenager basically." She laughed.

Donnelly smirked happily, relieved that she was avaliable and that she'd actually laughed. "So, you're not seeing anyone then?" He questioned.

"Nope." The Commander repeated, carefully bandaging his wound now. "A lot of guys are intimidated by the fact that I could kill them without thinking about it." She smiled softly, sadly, again.

Donnelly decided not to dwell on it. "I'm not intimidated, Commander." He smirked.

"Yeah, but you're one of my crew, so you know not all the rumors are true. Besides, your not looking to date me, so it's not quite the same thing." She waved a hand dismissively, and stepped away from him to put things away.

Donnelly fondled his new bandage carefully. "But... I am looking to date you." He said quietly, still smirking. Somewhere behind that smirk, in the depths of his mind, he was wondering if he'd crossed the line. If he had, he'd have to make damn sure Gabby never found out... he wouldn't live it down.

Shepard turned to see Donnelly and blinked in surprise. "You what?"

"I like you, Commander. A lot." Donnelly's smirk fell as he turned completely serious. "If you're gonna shoot me down, do it right now. I can handle it. But if there's the slightest chance you could be interested, well... I'd like to know." He quirked an eyebrow.

The Commander suddenly crossed her arms and put more weight on one hip so she was standing in that strange way that women had that made men feel intimidated. She stared at him. "Is this a joke?"

"No, Commander." Donnelly shook his head and jumped off the med bay bed. He took a step closer to her, no where near clearing the gap that seperated them, but bringing more seriousness into the conversation. "It's the truth."

"The truth?" The Commander frowned slightly. "You mean you... really like me?" She sounded cautious.

"Yes. I like you, Commander. I want you." Donnelly didn't really know what else to say. He clenched his hands a little, unsure of what to do with them at the moment. He felt uneasy and wasn't sure if he should be expecting a punch for his trouble or not. "So?" He asked, prodding her for an answer.

The Commander shook her head, tapped a foot carefully and glanced at the ground. "So..." She said, repeating his word to buy herself some time. "I... like you to." She managed, glancing up at him carefully.

Donnelly's expression went from nervous, to wtf, to smirking all over again. "You... you do? Really, Commander?"

Her lips broke into a smile and she nodded.

"Ah-hah! I knew it! It's gotta be the accent, no woman can resist it." Donnelly smirked and took a step closer to the Commander. He felt like hugging her just for what she'd said, but, well, she was still his Commanding officer and he wasn't sure how many bounderies he could cross today and survive.

"So... what now?" The Commander hesitated in her words, dropping her arms and resting them on her hips casually.

"So, I... uh..." _I haven't thought this through._ He shook his head. "I, uh, I guess I ask you if you're interested in dating me." He shrugged for lack of a better question.

The Commander smirked. "Dating? You realize the rumors this will start?"

"Oh, what rumors Commander? Everyone's sick right now, which means we got some time to ourselves." Another step closer, eyes locked on hers. "We should... make use of it. Don't you think?"

And suddenly the nervous side of the Commander was gone, replaced with the brash, bright woman that he talked to so openly on the engineering deck. Before he realized what had happened, she'd closed the distance between them and her lips were on his own.

A sharp intake of breath was all he could manage at first, as surprised as he was. Then slowly his brain registered that a beautiful woman was kissing him, and his senses kicked in - his hands grabbed her hips and he growled deep in his throat as he pulled her to him, his lips returning the kiss.

He was so focused on the kiss and the pleasure that he barely realized that her hands were sliding over his chest. He broke the kiss, using it as a chance to gain back the breath he'd lost and slowly looked down to see her palms resting on his shirt. So slender and soft... the feminine side that he'd barely realized existed. He released his grip on one of her hips and lifted his hand to stroke the back of one of her own - the feel of her skin sent a shiver racing down his spine. "Damn, Shepard..." His eyes shot up to see her own, and he smiled.

And she smiled back. Soft, gentle, then suddenly wicked and her bright eyes sparked with... what was that? Mischief?

He tilted his head in surprise, wondering what she was up to, when suddenly he felt her thigh press between his legs to his most sensitive place. A groan rushed up from his chest and slipped out of his mouth before he'd even realized what was happening. "No going slow with you, is there Commander?" He stated breathily, his hand now clasping hers to his chest, his other hand forcing her body to remain close to his own.

"Are you complaining?" The Commander smirked back at him, moving her free hand back down his chest, and it soon slipped around his waist to caress his back through his shirt.

Donnelly swallowed. "Ah... n-no, not exactly." He shifted his legs as the realization began to sit in and his body started to respond. "I just... ah..." He lowered his head to kiss her again, forgetting whatever it was he'd been saying in the process. It wasn't long before he released her hand and slowly slid both of his own around her hips to press against the slant of her back.

There wasn't a whole lot of touching going on, it was more like a passionate hug, what with the kiss and her thigh pressing into him. Hug or not, it was making it hard for him to stand her closeness; the urge to rip her shirt off was getting much stronger.

"Commander!" He gasped between kisses.

"Mm?" Her own voice sounded so calm compared to his own.

"We... we need to stop, or I... I..." Yet somehow he lost the will to speak as the kisses continued.

He felt her hand slide up his back and begin tugging his shirt from his pants. _This isn't happening, it can't possibly be happening, it MUST be a dream! Any second now someones gonna wake me and tell me it's my shift and I'll... mmhm!_ Whatever thought he was having was shattered as her togue slid past his lips and into his mouth.

That about did it for him. He couldn't take all the pressing and caressing and kissing. His hands grabbed her hips, and he hoistered her up, lifted her so she'd be sitting on the medical bed that he'd slid off of mere minutes before. As if reading his mind, her legs wrapped around his middle, locked around him and pulled him close. He had the briefest moment to think of how perfectly their bodies fit together, before losing his mind and thoughts to the kisses again.

At some point she'd moved her hands and was now running them through his hair, pulling him closer, giving him no choice but to drink in the kisses. His chest was heaving from the lack of oxygen, his hands massaging her hips and then sliding around to caress her rear. He used the caresses as an excuse to lift her up so she'd be pressing more against him, and it was apparently too much for him, as his hips began to grind against her own.

"Ah, Shepard!" He gasped out as their lips parted momentarily, and instead of letting them touch again, he chose to kiss her neck. The smell of her perfume almost overwhelmed him, jasmine blossoms he briefly recalled her mentioning to Gabby at some point. "We... we gotta... stop!" He managed to say between each heated kiss he left on her neck - he was sure a few of them would leave marks, and he wondered for a split second at how she would explain them to the rest of the crew. "What if... someone walks in?" He said just before biting down on her shoulder to keep a growl of pleasure from escaping him.

Shepard rubbed his shoulders, and then pressed her hands down his back, massaging as she went, sending chills up his spine at how incredible it felt. He felt her turn her head, and just about managed to hear her say that the coast was clear - so he figured Tali and Grunt must have left by now. With that fact in mind, he let all his self control dissapear.

"A'right then." He smirked against her neck, planted a final kiss upon the soft skin, then disconnected himself from her legs. He found the look of surprise on her face pleasing, but not as pleasaing as the look of shock that replaced it when he suddenly jumped up onto the bed beside her, and pushed her back onto the sheets. Leaning over her, he hesitated.

_What's happening?_ His mind shook him. _This is your Commanding Officer! Back off before you get in trouble! Stop it before it's too late!_ It shouted through his thoughts.

Breathing deeply, pulse racing through his system at an alarming rate, he pushed the voice aside. _It's already to late._

His hands found her hair and he tugged the band off that held it back in a pony tail. It spilled over her shoulders and the sheets, and he tangled his hands into it as he slipped between her legs and began kissing her again. He was relieved when she returned the kisses and wrapped her hands around him, pulling him down, closer to her. Her body grinded up against him and he shuddered in pleasure, gasping into the kiss.

He pressed his hips down into her own, and felt himself smirking against her lips as her back arched. He released his hold on her hair and wrapped an arm around her, filling the space that her arched back had left, holding her close to his chest. His other hand cupped a breast, rubbed it gently, then slid down her side, past her hip, onto her thigh, caressing all the way.

Breathing became difficult, reality was all a blur, all that mattered was the woman beneath him. She was moaning into the kiss, sweat beginning to form on the sensitive ridges of her collarbone and the heat of her thighs rubbing against his own almost pushed him over the edge. He kissed his way from her mouth to her neck, nipping at the exposed collarbone, growling deep in his throat.

_What's that? Was that the elevator? Pssh, no way. Everyone's sick, she said it herself. Joker won't leave the helm, EDI don't walk..._

He ignored the buzz that he'd barely heard and hissed through his teeth as she groped his rump, forcing his hips and more sensitive places just below to rub against her own. He knew by now that she would be feeling his pleasure, and that just made it harder to focus on the...

_Footsteps?! That's definately footsteps. God, no, please, no, let it be my imagination, don't let it end!_

He growled and tightened his grip on her, pulling her leg so it almost wrapped around his hip. He heard her moaning as he kissed and bit against her neck, his hand holding her shirt tight, pulling and tugging it, wanting to rip it off of her.

"Shepard."

_Oh, hell no!_ His mind cursed as the door to the medical bay slid open and someone said her name.

He hissed, stopped kissing her and lifted his head. He glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Mordin the salarian scientist look up from his data-pad. "Need to--" Mordin cut himself off, suddenly having noticed the Commander and the Engineer. Dark eyes blinked curiously, and he tilted his head slightly sideways. "Interrupting?" He quirked, not seeming to be embarrassed at all.

The Commander, stretched out on her back with the engineer atop her, could only stare sideways at the salarian, mouth agape, lips parted and words stuck on her tongue. Her face first drained of colour, then slowly blushed bright red.

_Oh, shit, shit, shit!_ Donnelly couldn't move, his brain could barely register it.

"Embarrassed?" Mordin blinked as he studied the Commander's red face. "No need to be. Human's interesting species, sex drive atypical, strangest places." He glanced around the medical bay before stepping to the desk nearby and setting the data-pad down.

Donnelly wanted to jump to his feet and scream at the salarian to bugger off, but he found himself at a loss for words (Gabby would have died laughing, had she seen him now), and since he had a hand twisted behind his Commander, and another latched onto her thigh, and not to mention the strain and friction contained in his pants, he found it difficult to move. No. He'd just stay, stare in horror, and wait for this endless suspense to die on its own.

"Will leave data reports on desk for you, Shepard. Garrus condition stable. Will be back on crew deck sometime tomorrow." Mordin smiled cheerily and after setting the pad down he walked back to the doors of the med bay. They slid open, and he took a step out before pausing and glancing back at the entertwined humans. "Come see later, Shepard. Can offer you much help on this subject. And may suggest that medical lab not best place for, ahem, human entanglements." He glanced at their positioning. "Highly unsterile." He turned to go again, adding just loud enough so they'd hear; "Plus, glass window." Then the doors slid closed.

Donnelly felt air rush into his lungs and realized that he'd been holding his breath the entire time the salarian had been present. Now that the scientist was gone, he glanced down at the woman beneath him, barely remembering that she was his commanding officer. "Well, that was... cheery." He managed to smirk, forgetting the salarian and instead choosing to focus on more important things. "Now where were we?" He lowered his lips as if to catch the Commanders, but found it somewhat difficult as she turned her head away.

"Donnelly..." She said quietly.

"Ken to you, Commander." The engineer nuzzled her neck and kissed the soft skin while waiting for her to continue.

The Commander had paused, and her hands slipped around him to press at his chest, trying to move him off her. "Ken..."

_At least she listened._ He thought as he lifted his gaze to see her face. "Commander?"

"Mordin was right." She said.

He watched the blush creep across her cheeks now, the giggle in her voice made her seem so innocent, and for a moment he forgot that she was Commander Shepard, he forgot she'd killed people, she'd hunted Geth and Collector's, she'd done the impossible... He blinked as her words sunk in. "Right about what, Commander?" He quirked a brow and shifted his weight on her - the pressure of their hips touching was becoming... difficult to say the least.

"This isn't the best place for this... Besides, I've got patients to treat." The sarcasm in her voice didn't go unnoted, but Kenneth could only sigh in response.

He lifted himself on his elbows and slowly slid off of her, and the medical bed, so he'd be standing on sure flooring again. He closed his eyes and rubbed the stiffness out of his shoulder. "Guess that's a 'no' then, Commander?" He turned away, closing his eyes as he tried to slow his heartbeat and regain control of his overeager body.

He was caught off guard by her hand reaching out to take hold of his arm. He turned back to look at her, and was surprised as he lips brushed his own. He pressed himself into the kiss, enjoying the moment of warmth and comfort. When she pulled back, he let a sigh of air escape his lungs.

"Not a no, just a... not right now." The Commander chuckled as she released his arm and pushed herself off of the bed. She was soon standing beside him, straightening her clothing. "When all this flu is dealt with, and I've got some damn sleep, then we'll see..." She smiled at him sidelong.

"Oh gods, all women say that, but they never mean it." Kenneth rolled his eyes with a sarcastic sigh.

"Oh, but I mean it." The Commander was smirking now, and he had to fight the urge to push her to the floor and do unspeakable things to her. He shook his head to clear his mind, and took her hips in his hands, stepping close enough to plant a barely restrained kiss on her lips.

"Damn it, Commander, you're playing with me, I know you are. You're too far out of my league." He sighed and rested his forehead against her own.

He felt her soft fingertips brush the slight shadow of hair on his face and smiled. He wanted to think the smile was against his will, but he knew better. Her soft lips gently brushed his own in a responding butterfly kiss. "No I'm not. I think I'm just in your league." She chuckled happily, and he felt bliss at the sound.

"We'll see..." Donnelly smiled and stepped away from her with some difficulty. "Well, Commander, you know where to find me, so I guess you can--"

"Kenneth?" A voice perked from in the door way. Neither Commander nor Engineer had heard it open, and yet the person standing there didn't seem to be upset, so it was safe to assume they hadn't seen Shepard and Donnelly's embrace.

Donnelly glanced over his shoulder. "Well look at that. It's the walking dead." He smirked at his fellow engineer and best friend, Gabby.

"Yeah, very funny." Gabby rolled her eyes, but smiled at the same time, so used to his jokes. "What are you doing up here? You didn't get the flu to, did you?"

"Oh, no. Just had a... well, infection." Donnelly's shoulder's shifted into a shrug, and he rubbed the back of his neck, glad that his breathing had slowed now.

"In your arm? In that cut that I told you would get infected?" Gabby's brow pinced together in smugness.

"Yeah, yeah, that one. You're so marvelous, oh great fortune teller." Kenneth rolled his eyes in sarcasm. "Anyway, shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"Oh, no, actually I feel great! I think I'm ready to get back to work, Commander. With permission, ma'me." The engineer saluted the commander.

"Have fun." The Commander stated as way of giving her permission and smoothly saluted the engineer in return.

"Thanks, Commander." Gabby smiled, before glancing back at Donnelly. "Come on, you. I got a great idea for how to improve the out put capacity while I was out of it."

"Oh, here we go. Another great brain wave that'll crush all mankind." Donnelly chuckled sarcastically.

"Oh! You're such a dog!" Gabby threw her hands up in defeat and turned to go to the elevator.

Donnelly smirked, he just loved annoying her. He turned and gave one last long look to the Commander and registered the smile she gave him, that secret soft smile that made his heart thump faster, then decided it would be best if he followed his friend out of the med bay before the urge to ravish his commanding officer returned. "Commander. ...Shepard." He nodded with a smile, before turning to follow Gabby.

It turned out she was holding the elevator open for him, and so he stepped inside, smirking like there was no tomorrow, and crossed his arms as he leant back against the wall of the elevator, listening to Gabby pressing the "engineer deck" button and then the hum of the lift in motion.

"What's the smirk for?" Gabby asked curiously as she leant against the wall next to Donnelly.

"Just thinking how lucky I am." Donnelly's smirk grew and he stared at the roof of the elevator, well, past it really, at nothing in particular.

"Lucky? To have an infection?" Gabby quirked an eyebrow.

_Yes. Because it took me to the Commander. _Those soft lips, the way they touched his own and made his heart flutter. Her secret smile, her pale skin, the perfume that she wore, the tight clothing, the languid movements. He wouldn't forget any of it.

"Well?" Gabby interrupted his day dream and flipped him across the back of his head with her hand.

"Well, what?" He frowned as he rubbed the back of his head, having forgotten her question.

"Well, why so lucky to have an infection? Why do you look so happy?" Gabby blinked curiously.

"Maybe because I _am_ happy." Donnelly sighed with a content smile on his face.

Gabby blinked and shook her head, very confused. "Over a wound? A yucky, infected, dripping mucus wound?"

_"No I'm not. I think I'm just in your league." That's what his Commander had said, he hadn't imagined it... There was a chance they could become something more, a chance that he could have her like he had her in his dreams..._

"Yeah, but now that I think about it, it's a mighty fine wound." Smirking to himself, Engineer Donnelly closed his eyes and sighed contentedly, thinking how lucky he was to get an infection.

And Gabby quirked an eyebrow and thought he was insane.

* * *

OOC: And... and... I've done it again x] Another story that was just getting good when I thought "enough!" and cut it off. Sorry if anyone's displeased by that, but, heh... blame the muse x]

I'm thinking about trying my hand at a Mordin story next, or a Jacob one since there's a lack of them... but my muse is having difficulty lately - I'd really like to get another chapter of Unbreak My Heart done, but so far, no luck. Guess I've just gotta roll with the punches...

ZiOfShadows (and the muse, Vitalini, who is secretly plotting world domination and thus wont help me with stories _)


End file.
